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I spend a LOT of time listening to podcasts – truth be told, it’s one of the things that gets me through the nearly two hours a day I spend in my car when I’m commuting.
As the year went on, I noticed that the topic of podcasts came up in conversation more frequently and many were coming to me for my favorite titles.
Since we’re in the last two days of 2019, I decided to round up a list of my favorites, which are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or other places you might stream or download them. I want to know what YOUR favorite podcasts are so that I can listen to them in 2020 – drop them in the comments!
Admittedly, most of these are true-crime based, but SO good!
- Crime Junkie – this is a weekly series, released on Mondays, by two friends from Indiana. They cover one true crime case per episode. Some of the cases covered are very high-profile (one of the first episodes was the Laci Peterson case) but others are lesser known and intriguing. They do a ton of research and a great job narrating to present all of the evidence and tell the story. It can get graphic, so be aware of that when considering who you’re listening with.
- Absolutely Not – Heather McMahon is quickly becoming a well-known comedian for her character bits, but she has also launched a podcast on Dear Media in 2019. Heather’s podcast comes out on Wednesdays and features the people that have shaped her life, rather than “celebrities”. Heather is a tell-it-like-it-is gal and incorporates voicemails from callers who have “absolutely not”s or “absolutely yes”ses. Be prepared to laugh and as a fair warning, it is not suitable for young ears.
- Dateline – The podcast version of the NBC show. They literally lift the audio track from each show and that’s what you’re hearing. I am too tired to stay up and watch Dateline when it’s on and have too much on my DVR, frankly, so the podcast version works well for me. Once in awhile, there are parts where Dateline adds subtitles in because the audio is too difficult to make out, and you lose that when listening to the audio version.
- To Live and Die in LA – The story of a love triangle that ends in murder. A novice model living in LA is dating an acting student. The acting student also apparently has a long-time girlfriend. The model ends up dead and there is much speculation about not only who did it, but how, and did anyone help? It kept me very, very captivated and the series has an ending.
- Dirty John – An interior designer meets a charming young man who tells her he has just returned from Doctors Without Borders. The designer’s children know that something is off about the man and set out to uncover the truth. There are so many complex pieces to this story and it keeps you on edge. It is also now a television series, which I haven’t seen yet.
- Dr. Death – This podcast series will give you major chills because anyone can place themselves in the position of the victims. A doctor is accused of malpractice on multiple patients. The stories of those impacted by this doctor (and some of his fellow associates) recall their difficulties with this monster of a physician.
- Culpable – A 21-year-old man from Meridian, MS was found dead in the bathroom of his apartment. It was originally ruled a suicide, however, there were some circumstances that caused his family to wonder if foul play was actually involved. Those circumstances involve the fact that the young man’s girlfriend was also in the apartment and claimed she didn’t hear the gunshot that killed her boyfriend. The family’s search for the truth unfolds in this series and pulls on your heartstrings. If you have or do listen to this one, I want to know what you think: murder or suicide? If murder, who did it?
- 88 Days – the Jayme Closs Story – This is a story that’s fairly local to me, capturing the attention of almost everyone in our immediate area, and also making national headlines. In October 2018 in a quiet, rural town in Western Wisconsin, two adults were found shot to death just after midnight in their home as police responded to a 9-1-1 hang up call. Police soon realized that a 13-year-old girl also lived in the home and was nowhere to be found. This podcast details how the 88 days between the murders and the reappearance of the girl unfolded.
- Cold – Susan Powell disappeared from her home in Utah, leaving her husband and two young boys behind. This is a long true crime series, but one with many weird twists and turns. The cops suspect her husband, but putting him behind bars isn’t as easy as one would hope, as Susan’s body doesn’t materialize. Learn all about the family’s deepest secrets as the police work to find Susan and get the truth from those closest to her.
- Ad Age Marketer’s Brief – This is a weekly podcast from Ad Age about what’s happening in the marketing world. I love it because the episodes are usually pretty quick – at about 25-45 minutes, depending on the topic. It helps me stay up-to-date on all of the cool things that brands from all industries are doing, without having to do a ton of research on my own.
- S-Town – Admittedly, I listened to this one really early on in 2019, but it was really good. A man writes a letter to a journalist, asking for help in digging into a murder that he believes took place in his hometown in Alabama. The journalist heads out to meet the man and shortly after, he commits suicide. Post-suicide, the journalist keeps digging and uncovers so many things that he never even expected. Sucks. You. In. Produced by the same people who did Serial (below) but with a different approach.
- Serial – Serial was the quintessential “first” true crime podcast the really birthed the movement. Serial is an episodic production about a murder of a high school girl that occurred in Baltimore. The boyfriend is charged, convicted, and sentenced for her murder, but did he actually do it? His appeal efforts are also detailed.
- The Dropout – This one was fascinating because it was about business and deception. Elizabeth Holmes was virtually a genius while she was in college at Stanford. She left college to found Theranos, a company which was supposed to provide blood test that only required a small amount of blood. Her company employed very reputable scientists and executives and also partnered with big box stores, like Walgreens. Listen as her mastermind meets demise as the episodes play out.
- Heartbroken with Falen – Another local podcast but one that reminds you about all of the tough things that others go through around you. Not meant to be a downer, but meant to comfort and bring awareness of all of the kinds of heartbreak that can happen. From losing a child to having an abusive or addictive parent to breakups in romantic relationships, real people tell their stories and more importantly, how they dealt with it. This podcast helps me relate to others and see things from different viewpoints, even though I haven’t experienced all of these types of heartbreak.
- Gladiator – A sports-meets-true-crime series, which is perfect for me. This is the saga of Aaron Hernandez, the once-famed New England Patriots football player, who was convicted and sentenced for the murder of an acquaintance. This is somewhat about Hernandez and the crime, but also about his mind and the research done on CTE, said to be an impact of a traumatic brain injury, and hot button issue in contact sports.
I hope you love them and cannot wait to hear your thoughts!
