From notorious serial killers to unsolved cold cases, true crime stories have seen a surge in popularity. There are many opportunities to listen to a podcast, whether it is on Spotify or on Apple’s Podcast app. These three crime podcasts have interesting stories for all listeners.
Crime Junkie
Every Monday, hosts Ashley Flowers and Britt Prawat take listeners on a journey inside a fascinating true crime case. They cover serial killers, missing persons, murders, infamous cases and conspiracy theories from the 20th and 21st centuries. Listeners can enjoy the friendly banter between the two hosts as well as relatable interjections about life, dogs and personal safety. Fans—dubbed crime junkies—have access to more episodes on Patreon, in addition to merchandise and contact with the hosts.
Crime Junkie explores cases in the shadows of the public view and acknowledges many differing theories, sources and suspects, giving readers the full story of the case. Suspenseful pauses and passionate defense of victims, as well as full insight on any court case drama allow listeners to become immersed in the story.
Each episode is a new case, and each episode is categorized by crime to allow readers to find the cases they are most interested in. Crime Junkie is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts and their own website.
Thin Air
The Thin Air podcast documents true missing persons cases on a biweekly basis. With recorded interviews and audios correlating with the story, this professional podcast fully explores the victim’s life and their disappearance, as well as the theories associated with the case.
Each case is unsolved, forcing the reader to ponder the perplexing interviews and mystery long after the podcast is over. Told from a personal investigative standpoint, hosts Jordan Sims and Daniel Calder engage readers as they explain their process in unraveling the story.
Sims and Calder devote their podcast to reigniting the discussion and investigation of cold missing persons cases, frequrently referencing the national database for missing persons under a website called NamUs.org.
Thin Air is available on Apple Podcasts and Google Podcasts.
Generation Why
Since 2012, Generation Why podcast immerses listeners in all sorts of true crime cases from unsolved murders to serial killers to conspiracy theories. Hosted by two friends, Generation Why consistently provides listeners with all the necessary details to the case and adds personal insight and opinions about the case.
Like Crime Junkie, Generation Why is conducted as a conversation between two people interested in true crime and allows listeners to hear the straightforward facts of the case. For new podcast listeners, or listeners with shorter attention spans, Generation Why is not ideal because of the slow and somewhat monotone tone of voice.
If listeners would prefer to dedicate time to one complete case, other podcasts series such as Serial explores one complete case over the span of one season.
Many people can take advantage of these podcasts, or hundreds more, to make the menial day-to-day tasks much more interesting. Podcasts are a viable and fascinating entertainment option for everybody.