DIRTY JOHN OFFERS HOPE FROM THE DARKNESS

We always love it when a hack diversifies and does well outside of his chosen field.

It gives us a glimmer of hope that there is life beyond this thing we try to do, that a plan b can come to fruition... so when Dirty John creator Christopher Goffard visits Belfast this spring we’ll be there hanging on his every word, praying some of his smarts rub off on us. Dirty John, for those of you who aren’t already hooked, is Goffard’s true crime podcast that follows a fine tradition of noirish journalism first popularised by Truman

Capote’s In Cold Blood and which continued through to more recent TV shows such as The Making Of A Murderer. Goffard was a big hitter in newspapers long before Dirty John – he’s an author and part of a Pulitzer-winning reporting team at the LA Times who has twice been shortlisted for his own features – so it perhaps a little unfair to cast him as some jobbing hack who caught a break. He’d probably be OK if his newspaper shut tomorrow. But, still, in these straitened times his success is a comfort and an inspiration. Coming next week: “Chalky and Brendy’s weekly-fashion-tips-for -men-with-big-arses podcast hits 100million subscribers !!!! ”Yay.

A conversation with Christopher Goffard is at the Empire Music Hall, Belfast, on Friday, April 6, doors 8pm, tickets £20 plus booking fee. Over-18s only...