Podcasts that it would be a crime to miss
The true crime genre is the gift that keeps on giving when it comes to “gripping new podcasts”, said Tom Fordy in The Daily Telegraph.
a ten-part Spotify podcast made by journalist Jason Cavanagh, is about the life and crimes of Charles Harrelson – the father of the actor Woody Harrelson. Steeped in organised crime, Harrelson Snr was a card sharp, a con man, a debt collector, a drug trafficker and a murderer-forhire. Based on interviews with witnesses, lawyers, detectives and the relatives of his victims, this superb series “paints a damning, ruthless portrait” of a killer. In Audible’s new six-part podcast about heists and robberies, the actor turns “true crime bedtime storyteller”, said Hannah Verdier in The Guardian. The first case – about a raid at a diamond vault in Antwerp – has “excitement and movie-like glamour”, and is told in “Caine’s trademark style”.
has a more “low-key” premise, said Miranda Sawyer in The Observer. In it, the Australian comedian Marc Fennell (who had a big hit with his 2019 podcast investigates the theft of a truckload of almonds in California. The story turns into a strange and “fascinating” tale about a black-market worth $10m, undocumented workers and wellness food fads.
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is an interesting and “surprisingly upbeat” podcast about prison life, focusing on Rob Morrison and Mike (Boats) Boateng, two ex-prisoners who met doing time in Rochester prison and now work as personal trainers. And
tells the “disgraceful” story of the innocent subpostmasters who were sacked, prosecuted and (in some cases) jailed for theft, because their bosses wouldn’t accept that new software had been giving false accounts. The story is told in 10-15 minute episodes by Nick Wallis, the BBC journalist, who over the course of ten years, uncovered this “appalling miscarriage of justice”. He should “win all the awards going”.
One of last year’s best-received podcasts was
said Hannah J. Davies in The Guardian. It boasts the most “audacious of protagonists” in the form of Dr Ruja Ignatova, the Bulgarian fraudster behind the OneCoin cryptocurrency con. It’s a compelling tale that “keeps you guessing to the end”. Two other acclaimed podcasts that shouldn’t be missed are which explores the effects of organised crime on different US cities, and which digs into an alleged murder in Woodstock, Alabama. While central tale of “worldweary horologist John McLemore has clear ethical deficits, few podcasts have delved this deep into the human condition”.
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