8 True Crime Podcasts to Binge If You're Obsessed With Serial
In 1999, Hae Min Lee, a high school senior in Baltimore, was murdered. Her boyfriend, Adnan Syed, was arrested and then convicted for the gruesome crime. In 2014, the case became a cultural talking point when NPR’s Serial cast doubt on Syed’s guilt, helping him earn a retrial and launching true-crime podcasts from a niche genre into a cultural phenomenon.
On Sunday, HBO will premiere The Case Against Adnan Syed, a four-part documentary that’s sure to raise even more questions about Syed’s guilt. The series will also leave you eager for more mysteries to solve. If you're a fan of Serial, here are eight more true-crime podcasts that will keep you hooked as you wait for each new episode to air.
S-Town
It started out as a story about a murder, but it didn’t stay that way. In 2012, John B. Mclemore, a man from Woodstock, Alabama, reached out to This American Life to request their help in investigating and publicizing a murder that had been committed and then quickly covered up by members of his town’s most well-known residents.
The fact that there’s no actual murder is only one of the many twists in this podcast, which quickly shifts its focus away from killing and toward McLemore’s mental health, relationship to the town he hates, and his identity. In parts honest, revealing, and voyeuristic, this podcast will have you questioning not only what happened but whom the stories told throughout truly belong to.
Listen if: You’re a fan of long-form storytelling, unreliable narrators, the agony of the human condition, questioning your own sense of ethics, and the production values of This American Life.
Criminal
While the true-crime genre is doing swift business on iTunes now, there were much fewer options to partake of at the height of Serial’s popularity. And when fans of the show tired themselves out talking about the Nisha call, they turned to Criminal, a show that features stories about people who “have done wrong, been wronged, or are caught in the middle.”
The cool thing about Criminal-besides its inimitable intro; trust that you’ll catch yourself saying “I’m Phoebe Judge and this is ‘Criminal’” at least a few times as you wash your face in the morning-is that each story presents a side of crime you’ve likely never considered.
From alleged murderers blaming their crimes on owls to a story about a woman who’s wanted for helping people end their lives with dignity and compassion, Criminal’s sure to scratch an itch and leave you scratching your head.
Listen if: You’re into short stories about about crime that will frequently challenge your viewpoints on right and wrong.
Sword and Scale
Crime is a grim business and this podcast makes no bones about that. Covering everything from sex crimes to torture to mass murder, this show will take you into basements, attics, and jail cells to tell the some of the most gruesome stories you’ve ever heard. Told in the style of Unsolved Mysteries, this podcast truly lives up to its promise to “reveal that the worst monsters are real.”
Listen if: You’re into all the grisly, gory details.
Happy Face
What would it be like to find out that your father’s a serial killer? This podcast centers around Melissa Moore, the daughter of Keith Hunter Jesperson-better known in the early ‘90s as “The Happy Face Killer.”
Jesperson’s responsible for the horrifying deaths of at least eight women. He earned his moniker from the smiley faces he drew on the anonymous confession letters he sent to the media and law enforcement. Moore discovered that her father was a murderer when she was a teen.
This podcast isn’t a mystery. It’s a deep-dive into the chilling effects that a man’s destructive, unforgivable actions had on his family. Can those wounds ever be healed?
Listen if: You’re into a different kind of family drama.
Cold
In 2009, Susan Powell vanished into thin air. She went to church with her two sons and then she was just...gone. Or at least that’s what her husband would have had people believe. During the investigation, it became more and more clear that Joshua Powell, Susan’s husband had something to do with it. And so did his brother. And his father, whose feelings for Susan went way beyond the familial. Susan’s disappearance is, tragically, only the beginning of the twists this podcast will take you on.
Listen if: You’re into well-researched longform exploration that focuses on facts investigators may have missed.
Dirty John
Ever been concerned about someone a friend or family member’s been dating? Maybe the person seems nice at the outset, but more and more red flags start to emerge as the relationship grows deeper. And when you tell the person you love that they’re dating a potential monster, they don’t listen? Dirty John takes that to the extreme.
Debra Newell is a successful woman who’s just looking for love. And John Meehan, a man she meets online, seems like her perfect match. But her daughters don’t like him, and as they discover that Meehan’s a con and a psychopath, the story quickly shifts from love, to terror, to murder.
Listen if: You enjoy a slow burn and plenty of material to sift through. Dirty John’s also recently been made into a TV series, so if you’re looking for something to watch between episodes of The Case Against Adnan Syed, you’ll have your hands full.
My Favorite Murder
By now, true-crime podcasts have been embraced by the mainstream, but if you’ve listened to any of the series on this list, you’re also probably feeling like you’re a little odd or morbid. Excellent news: My Favorite Murder will quickly cure you of that.
Hosted by two best friends-Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark-this podcast is just two friends talking about memorable murders and their own anxieties about mortality (what, you never worry you might be offed?). It’s a nice reprieve from the serious tone of the other true-crime shows on this list.
Listen if: You love the dark of true-crime, but could use some levity.
Undisclosed: The State Vs. Adnan Syed
Serial may have kept you on the edge of your seat, but it’s important to remember that there are real people at the heart of Hae Min Lee’s murder. This podcast, hosted by Rabia Chaudry (a lawyer and family friend of Syed who first brought the case to Serial’s Sarah Koenig), along with lawyer Susan Simpson, and professor Colin Miller aims to fill the holes in NPR’s narrative.
While the show is biased towards Syed’s innocence, it benefits from having experts in law as its hosts and researchers. You won’t find any jingles or cute ads here, but what you’ll get is an in-depth discussion of a story that started and continues fueling our true-crime obsession.
Listen if: You’re obsessed with Serial. And after Sunday, you may be.
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