Episodes
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American ambassador Kate Wyler believes the Prime Minister orchestrated a false flag operation to rally the nation and thwart a Scottish secession movement. As British forces hunt the Russian fixer behind the attacks, Kate takes a risk hiding a politician with inside knowledge of the plot. Kate sets aside her attraction to the Foreign Secretary to help expose the PM. Meanwhile, her politically-savvy husband, Hal, tries to convince his reluctant wife to embrace the offer to replace the sitting Vice President on the presidential ticket.
Keri Russell and Rufus Sewell return for season two of Netflix’s Emmy-nominated political thriller “The Diplomat.” Kate and her staff navigate personal and professional relationships, all while trying to expose a conspiracy and ease geopolitical tensions.
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE DIPLOMAT" SEASON TWO BEGIN IN THE FINAL 8 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
In Crime of the Week: bearly legal.
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Set in a Chicago housing project, the 1992 horror movie “Candyman” features a deadly ghost who can be summoned by chanting in a bathroom mirror. But some plot points were inspired by a real life robbery homicide in which the killer broke into an apartment through a hole in the medicine cabinet. A reporter found the flawed design of the bathroom walls were a contributing factor into Ruthie Mae McCoy’s 1987 death. The exposé raised questions about City Hall’s indifference to violence in the projects and the dangers faced by its Black residents. By the time the supernatural retelling made it into theaters, the creature in the mirror did not reflect those systemic issues.
From CBS News and 48 Hours Production comes the podcast “Candyman: The True Story Behind the Bathroom Mirror Murder.” Host Dometi Pongo explores not only McCoy’s homicide. He dives into the larger issues around race, safety in the projects, and the ways they shaped the Hollywood narrative. The series asks how a mainstream audience can find big screen horror in the hallmarks of poverty.
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "CANDYMAN" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 12 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Missing episodes?
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Just before the producers of “Grey’s Anatomy” could dismiss writer Elizabeth Finch for mediocre work, she revealed she had a rare form of cancer. Finch drew on her experience to write some powerful episodes for the medical drama. Finch crafted acclaimed storylines based on her own struggles with health, assault, sexual harassment and stalking. Hollywood was shocked when it was revealed Finch was faking. She’d taken other people’s real life trauma and claimed it for her own, stringing along those close to her for sympathy and attention for years.
Peacock’s “Anatomy of Lies” recounts the writer’s elaborate ruse and how she parlayed other’s pain into personal and professional gain. It leans heavily into the perspective of Finch’s wife who worked to expose the woman who fooled so many.
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "ANATOMY OF LIES" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
In Crime of the Week: R-O-T-T-O-G-O!
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A white hat hacker provides journalist Carl Miller with backdoor access to a page on the dark web offering the services of a hit man. The site is just a scam, but the transactions identify more than 100 people who are in real life danger from someone motivated to harm them. Though the buyers are anonymous, Miller feels an obligation to find the targets and warn them someone is willing to pay to have them killed. Miller’s team is met with skepticism from the authorities, but many would-be victims realize who might be behind their threat. While Miller works to trip up the hitman-shoppers before they turn to real world violence, the team turns its attention to taking apart the website offering murder for hire.
The podcast “Kill List” from Wondery and Novel follows Miller’s race against time to warn unsuspecting people around the world that their lives are in danger before the scammed buyers take matters into their own hands. It also covers Miller’s own ethical struggle of inserting himself into the story and the emotional toll his newsgathering takes.
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "KILL LIST" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Looking to get a break in show business, struggling actress Sheryl Bradshaw appears on “The Dating Game.” The first two bachelors are either shallow or lascivious, but bachelor number three has an easy charm that makes him the clear favorite. But Rodney Alcala is more than a smooth-talking photographer looking for love. He’s spent the past decade murdering unsuspecting women and eluding detection. How could Sheryl - or the TV audience - know she was about to go on a date with a serial killer?
The Netflix thriller “Woman of the Hour” dramatizes Sheryl’s real life encounter with a predator. Lead actress and director Anna Kendrick ratchets up the tension with a character resigned to 1970s misogyny and its lurking menace, all while showing us in parallel what Rodney is capable of.
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "WOMAN OF THE HOUR" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
In Crime of the Week: ice to see you.
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A Hollywood studio courts Charles, Oliver, and Mabel to make a star-studded movie based on their hit podcast. But Charles is shaken by another murder in the building: his longtime stunt double, Sazz, was killed in his apartment by a sniper, and her body burned in the incinerator.
Before she died, Sazz had been poking into something about the first season of the podcast. The fatal shot came from the west side of the Arconia, occupied by an odd collection of residents with a secret to hide. Writers, directors, executives and stuntmen also make up the suspect list. Now the podcasters are on a new case: what bombshell did Sazz uncover and who was willing to kill to keep it quiet?
Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Selena Gomez return for season four of “Only Murders in the Building.” This time, the Emmy Award-winning series deconstructs the murder mystery through the lens of film. The movie forces Mabel to ponder how the world views her, and leads Oliver to re-examine his relationship with Loretta. Meanwhile, Charles is racked with guilt that his old friend may have died because of him. As usual, “Only Murders” delivers sly humor, a touch of pathos, and crackling performances by the leads and many guest stars.
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "ONLY MURDERS IN THE BUILDING" SEASON FOUR BEGIN IN THE FINAL [ XX ] MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Comedian Gary Vider had a great childhood story about him and his father sneaking into scores of games at Madison Square Garden posing as a reporter for Sports Illustrated Kids. But the charming tale belied a deeper truth. Manny Vider was a prolific con artist, with a never ending stream of business scams, insurance fraud, and other schemes that eventually tore his family apart. Twenty-four years later, now a father himself, Gary set out on a quest to locate Manny. His goal was to process the effects of his estranged dad’s actions on his life and family. He also wanted to learn whether the unrepentant conman has changed his ways.
From iHeartMedia and Big Money Players Network comes “#1 Dad.” Vider talks to relatives, partners, his own therapist, and fellow comedians about Manny’s many swindles - both personal and professional. Can he convince his father to meet and confront their past? And will the son get the truth from a man who’s spent his life spinning lies?
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "#1 DAD" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
In Crime of the Week: techno pop.
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Filmmakers follow officers in a troubled Michigan city to confront the challenges of policing, race relations, politics, and what it means to be a community. We’ll go back to our 2018 review of the documentary series “Flint Town.”
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Former prosecutor Paul Bergrin made a name for himself as an aggressive defense attorney, handling difficult cases involving celebrities and hardened criminals in New Jersey. But as his reputation grew, so did suspicions about the lengths he’d go to get his clients off the hook.
An FBI investigation found that Bergrin wasn’t just representing his unsavory clients; he was directing their criminal activities. They learned the lawyer was overseeing drug trafficking, directing an escort service, and involved in money laundering and witness intimidation. It left agents wondering how far Bergrin would go to get an acquittal.
From Wondery comes the podcast “Criminal Attorney.” Host Brandon “Jinx” Jenkins introduces us to the voices of those who knew Bergrin, those who investigated him, and those affected by his actions. Why would an accomplished lawyer risk everything and find himself - and not his clients - pleading his case before a jury?
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "CRIMINAL ATTORNEY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL TEN MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
In Crime of the Week: Whopper copper.
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In 1992, relatively stable patients at the VA hospital in Columbia, Missouri were dying on one ward’s overnight shift at an alarming rate. A review of the charts showed nurse Richard Williams had been present for most of the Code Blues, but he denied being responsible for the deaths. Whistleblowers accused VA administrators of keeping the situation quiet and retaliating against staff who tried to stop it. Even the FBI seemed to slow-walk the investigation, leaving grieving families to wonder whether anyone will be held accountable for the deaths of up to 50 ill veterans.
In the latest installment of the podcast from Sony Music Entertainment and Campside Media, “Witnessed: Night Shift” reinvestigates the Columbia VA deaths. Who did it? Why did the hospital try to cover them up? Author Jake Adelstein interviews doctors - including his own father - who fought the government to identify one of the most prolific serial killers to roam a hospital.
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "WITNESSED: NIGHT SHIFT" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 8 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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After fishermen reel in a severed arm off of Key West, demoted police detective Andrew Yancy grows suspicious of the victim’s young widow and her mysterious new boyfriend. Yancy thinks Eve’s husband Nick might not be the victim of a boating accident, especially as more people wind up dead.
Meanwhile, the couple have been scooping up property and displacing residents on the nearby island of Andros. Neville approaches the sultry Dragon Queen to put a curse on the speculators who stole his shack. Yancy and Neville’s stories become intertwined, as the wisecracking detective wonders how far Eve will go to execute her plan.
“Bad Monkey” from Apple TV+ stars Vince Vaughn as the fleet-footed and silver-tongued Yancy. Based on Carl Hiaasen’s best seller, this part noir/part dark comedy features rat-a-tat-tat dialogue and a host of quirky characters. Can Yancy get his badge back, straighten out his love life, thwart a crooked cop and the neighborhood real estate agent, and bring the scheming couple to justice?
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "BAD MONKEY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 12 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
In Crime of the Week: Lost in the mail.
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New York’s police department says its mission is to protect and serve, but its long forgotten origin story says something different. Before they carried weapons and wore uniforms, the city’s loose affiliation of constables and watchmen hunted escaped enslaved people and made arrests for a fee. New York eventually formed a police force, one less focused on solving crime and more to serve the mayor’s political interests. In the 150-plus years that followed, police reforms and counter reforms shaped how the NYPD uses its authority. But the debate continues on how modern law enforcement interacts with the community.
From Wondery, Crooked Media and PushBlack, comes the podcast “Empire City: The Untold Origin Story of the NYPD.” Peabody Award winner Chenjerai Kumanyika recounts the lost history of Gotham’s police, and brings his personal experiences as a second-generation police reform advocate.
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "EMPIRE CITY" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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A small-time Atlanta numbers runner named Chicken Man is given a big-time opportunity: throw a party for all the bosses of the Black mafia after Muhammad Ali’s comeback fight. But a group of robbers holds up the partygoers, making off with nearly a million dollars in cash and jewelry. Detective JD Hudson is tasked with finding the violent robbers - that is unless “Black Godfather” Frank Moten finds them first. Chicken Man finds himself in the crosshairs of both the police and the mob, needing to convince both he had nothing to do with the heist.
“Fight Night: The Million Dollar Heist” from Peacock is based on the podcast about the 1971 real-life caper. Kevin Hart leads an all-star cast that includes Taraji P. Henson, Don Cheadle, and Samuel L. Jackson. The crime drama goes beyond the holdup, focusing on the characters’ dreams of what life in a modern Atlanta could be.
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "FIGHT NIGHT: THE MILLION DOLLAR HEIST" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 10 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
In Crime of the Week: The G.O.A.T. of goats.
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Oregon death row inmate Jesse Lee Johnson always proclaimed his innocence in the 1998 murder of Harriet Thompson. Seventeen years later, with little fanfare, authorities released Johnson from prison instead of retrying him for the crime. But if the case was too weak to pursue a conviction, how was Johnson arrested in the first place? Why did Salem police rely on recanted witness statements and badly documented evidence, while ignoring DNA placing other people at the crime scene? And was Johnson’s race a factor for the investigators with a history of problematic statements?
From Oregon Public Broadcasting comes the investigative series “Hush.” Host Leah Sottile and producer Ryan Haas examine the investigators and their evidence that nearly sent Johnson to the execution chamber. It explores the inequities in policing policies. And it refutes the state’s claim Johnson was the only suspect in Thompson’s murder.
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "HUSH" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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A young woman from a posh English family sought clarity about her sexual orientation from therapist Anne Craig. She convinced Fipsi her issues were a result of childhood abuse at the hands of her family - abuse Fipsi had no recollection of. Anne convinced her to cut ties with them and focus instead on their sessions. Anne diagnosed most of her well-to-do patients as victims of an underground pedophile ring. The women spent years estranged from their families. It left their parents convinced Anne brainwashed their daughters and unsure of how to get them back.
The podcast “Dangerous Memories” from Tortoise explores the work of the self-styled counselor who convinced women of privilege they were victims and lured them into isolation and dependence. Host Grace Hugh Hallett talks to former clients and their families about Anne’s cult-like hold on them and the efforts to stop her.
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "DANGEROUS MEMORIES" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 12 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
In Crime of the Week: digital downloads.
Here's the GOURDS article from McSweeney's!
And here's the one from the Baroness Von Schraeder!
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Cathy Terkanian learned the daughter she gave up for adoption decades earlier vanished under mysterious circumstances while a teenager. When she dug deeper into Aundria Bowman’s disappearance, she learned police never investigated her adoptive father, despite his history of violence. Convinced the Bowmans knew more than they were saying, Cathy began a crusade to force Aundria’s adoptive parents to talk. Could a chance encounter between cold case detectives and evidence left 1,000 miles away be the break they’ve been waiting for?
From the producers of the true crime classic “The Keepers” comes the two-part Netflix series “Into the Fire: The Lost Daughter.” It follows Cathy’s journey to do right by the child she never knew and learn what happened to her. Her journey is filled with surprising twists and leaves the viewer to ponder how far is too far to seek justice for a daughter.
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "INTO THE FIRE: THE LOST DAUGHTER" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 12 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Dr. Robert Young rose to prominence in the world of holistic medicine claiming cancer was not a cell, but rather poisonous acid in the body, so a diet rich in alkaline would neutralize it. The charismatic practitioner opened the so-called Miracle Ranch, where sick people sought expensive treatments to balance their pH. Though he doled out advice and performed baking soda IVs, Young had never been to medical school. And as his devoted followers favored vegetable smoothies instead of chemotherapy, their conditions worsened.
“Chameleon: Dr. Miracle” is the latest season of the podcast from Campside Media, Sony Music Entertainment, and Dorothy Street Pictures. Host Larrison Campbell recounts Young’s pseudoscientific alkaline diet and talks to ranch employees and patients who received his quack treatments. It also looks into the difficulty of holding Young accountable - and where he is today.
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "CHAMELEON: DR. MIRACLE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
In Crime of the Week: Behind iron(y) bars.
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When we last listened to season three of “In the Dark,” Madeleine Baran had collected signatures from the families of the Haditha victims, hoping to obtain secret photographs of the massacre. In the final episodes of the season, the team gives the pictures to an analyst who says the images are clear evidence of a war crime. Military prosecutors eventually charged eight Marines for killing two dozen unarmed Iraqi men, women and children. But a cascade of immunity offers, intervention by commanding officers, and a generous plea bargain meant no one was held accountable for the murders in any meaningful way.
The final episodes of “In the Dark” season three probes what went wrong with the prosecution of the infantrymen who rounded up and slaughtered civilians in retaliation for an IED attack. And while the number of victims in Haditha have been listed as 24, Baran and her team find evidence the number is too low.
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "IN THE DARK" EPISODES 6 THROUGH 9 BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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Hours before a wedding at the Winbury’s Nantucket estate, the maid of honor’s body washes ashore. Investigators believe the death was no accident. All the family members are now suspects in the case. They include man-of-leisure Tag Winbury, his high-strung wife and mystery novelist Greer, and their three sons: cash strapped Thomas, adolescent Will, and Benji, the groom. Together with the fish-out-of-water bride, Thomas’s pregnant wife, a shifty best man, and a French cougar, everyone had reasons to kill Merritt Monaco - but who did?
Based on the best-selling novel, the six part Netflix series “The Perfect Couple” stars Nicole Kidman, Liev Schreiber, and Eve Hewson. The high-profile investigation threatens to undermine Tag and Greer’s facade of considerable wealth and an ideal marriage so necessary for their public persona.
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "THE PERFECT COUPLE" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 11 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
In Crime of the Week: Goodbye yellow brick nose.
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Secondary school student Pippa Fitz-Amobi selects a controversial topic for an extra credit project. She wants to re-investigate the murder/suicide that rocked her sleepy English village five years earlier. She’s not convinced popular teen Andie Bell was killed by her boyfriend, Sal Singh, and Pip enlists his brother to help her. Pip grills Andie’s friends about what led up to her death and disappearance. Soon she gets anonymous threats to back off. Is someone willing to kill again to keep the truth about Andie from surfacing?
From BBC Studios and streaming on Netflix comes the adaptation of the YA bestseller, “A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder,” starring Emma Myers. The thriller series follows Pip’s growing obsession with the Andie Bell case, as she pushes her good girl boundaries to solve the mystery, and navigate adolescent relationships as complicated as the crime.
OUR SPOILER-FREE REVIEWS OF "A GOOD GIRL'S GUIDE TO MURDER" BEGIN IN THE FINAL 13 MINUTES OF THE EPISODE.
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