Are there any non-sensationalistic and non-speculative true crime stuff like that you like?...
- tv series
- podcasts
- etc
It's a genre I'm interested in but 95% of the time I don't like stuff. Audiences want endless salacious, sensationalistic, and purely speculative details. I don't want any of that stuff.
The only thing I've ever watched or listened to that I've liked was the Forensic Files.
Forensic Files (TV Series 1996-2011)
A series featuring detailed accounts on how notable crimes and diseases were solved through forensic science.
I ended up downloading all seasons off TPB. But I had stop watching after season 7. I deleted the rest of the episodes unwatched.
-
As well done as it was - it was relentlessly bleak. I took breaks lasting months but episodes were still too depressing.
-
The narrator was Peter Thomas. When I was young he was the voice of PBS to me. He seemed to narrate everything PBS did. I never thought I'd get sick of his voice but, man, did I ever. Too much of anything can get to you.
If there's a Forensic Files-like podcast with at least some lighthearted stuff as a break from the depressing stuff - that might be perfect for me.
Have you ever listened to Last Podcast on the Left? It's three comedians and horror fans doing deep dives on anything macabre or spooky, mixing educational and hilarious. They cover serial killers, cults, spree killers, family annihilators, along with paranormal and cryptid stuff.
The first 100 episodes or so aren't great and some of the humor was pretty abrasive and problematic, but they've grown a lot over the last 11 years and it's my favorite podcast.
Was gonna recommend lpotl. They do a good job of focusing on the failures and systemic issues with policing that accompany many of these stories. It's also my favorite podcast full of racist caricatures.
My Favorite Murder does the same thing, but not quite as deep, and they're much more sensitive (if you can deal with them being huge libs). My partner got me into them and its good comfort slop we listen to together each week.
They did a six part series on the origins of Mormonism and Blood Atonement that completely changed my view on Mormons from "weirdly stuffy christians who write a lot of speculative fiction" to "well the same thing but also the most successful cult in US history."
I literally just finished relistening to the Mormonism series last week. It's one of their best series!
It's crazy how popular Mormonism got when its origins are so thoroughly documented as a huge scam run by a horny grifter. And I didn't even know about the super occult-like rituals they had before I listened to this series.
I like Last Podcast on the Left because it's funny, well researched, and they always mercilessly clown on the killers because they hate that "le genius Hannibal Dexter serial killer" shit, going out of their way to point out that these guys are usually dumb as hell and skate by on police laziness/incompetence/apathy. They've got a good social dynamic and manage to strike a difficult balance between respectful and hilarious.
I keep coming back again to the extremely strange, chilling and pathetic story of a very wealthy and repressed corporate accountant named John List, who
spoiler/cw
Shot his wife, mother and three teenage children one day in a premeditated spree in 1971
for a host of insane reactionary reasons, mostly related to wealth and status. It is, as the hosts point out, an extremely American tragedy. There was just too much going on psychologically for me to hope to summarize here, but one interesting fact is that he was the first guy to do the "put on a suit and tie every day and just sit at the train station for 8 hours so your family and neighbors don't find out you lost your job" thing. Actually, he also put on a suit and tie just to mow his lawn. His many dysfunctions, too numerous to list here, are a perfect example of the self-destructive consequences of fully identifying with the fucked up Calvinistic anti-morality of capitalism. He was a true believer, and he did what he did in part because he believed his family had failed to live up to those standards. He was the Ur-1960s Suburban Fascist.
I don't know what podcast app people use, so I'll just drop an old fashioned YouTube link: https://youtu.be/5tMWtgHpnG4l
The Charles Starkweather one they did recently was hilarious, but my favourite episode is The Tall Whites, which isnt true crime but more alien. Also, their creepypasta episodes are great.
The gulf breeze sightings are a favorite of mine, though that’s more alien than serial killer.
Joseph Callinger is one of my favorite serial killer two-parters
I know this wont really hit the mark for OP, but others who clicked on the thread might find interesting. The Murderville podcast is sensationalized in slightly different way. They examine a case where someone has likely been falsely convicted of a murder and walk through the evidence, investigation, prosecution, etc. Kinda like backwards true crime I guess, since they focus more on the likely innocence of the convicted person, rather than catching the bad guy.
Yeah, I like what they've put out so far. I don't remember them voicing any pig capeshit takes, and iirc the first series of Murderville played a role in overturning the conviction in question
Do you want 0 speculation from the hosts or just reasonable speculation?
When I ask at another site - I'll change my phrasing to include "reasonable speculation". That's um... reasonable.
Thanks for “Atlanta Monster” in particular.
very detailed
Sounds very good.
Last night I tried out a podcast and the episode was on the Golden State Killer. They gave a lot of salacious (and apparently accurate) details which I have to admit were fascinating. But the episode was what I hate most about typical podcasts. It was scattershot and unplanned. For example - they entirely forgot to mention he had been a cop. Oops.
