The 50 Best True-Crime Podcasts
When you need an all-consuming distraction, murder and mystery are key.
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Our society’s fascination with true-crime stories is nothing short of, well, suspicious. Perhaps it’s our desensitization through media that increases our appetite for violence—and our ability to consume it without our stomachs churning. Or maybe it’s the advent of reality television and social media that has made us more and more eager to treat intimate details of real people’s lives like our favorite soap opera. Whatever the reason, it’s clear that the true-crime-obsessed wave isn’t abating anytime soon.
Authors and filmmakers have responded in kind, with gory books and movies inspired by real-life headlines coming out at a fast clip. The Jinx, a true-crime documentary on HBO, even earned a confession. Whether you’re already dedicated to investigating every story on the Internet or are looking to see what the buzz is about, true-crime podcasts are the greatest entry point into the genre. Not only does the audio component help you avoid any gruesome visuals, but the podcast sphere is usually led by vetted journalists, historians, and other established commentators.
So if you’re trying to get to the bottom of true crime, this list is a good trail for starting your search. Here are some of the most likely suspects for the best true-crime podcasts out right now.
The Shrink Next Door
Serving as the inspiration for an Apple TV+ series with Paul Rudd and Will Ferrell, The Shrink Next Door explores the disappearance of a Hamptons therapist, as told by Bloomberg writer Joe Nocera.
Ridiculous Crime
On the lighter side, Ridiculous Crime finds truly hilarious crimes in a murder-free environment for your morning commute. Recent episodes have tackled early Ponzi schemes and debauchery at a 2015 Furry convention.
West Cork
Diving into the 1996 unsolved murder of French film producer Sophie Toscan du Plantier, West Cork focuses on the most alarming suspect who was never arrested.
Black Girl Gone: A True Crime Podcast
Jason and Amara Cofer, a husband and wife who are both interested in true crime, shine a light on the families left behind when Black women and children go missing—especially as cases for young white women soak up all the media attention.
Your Own Backyard
Like The Jinx, Your Own Backyard is one of the few true-crime projects that actually led to the reopening of a case. After looking into the 1996 disappearance of Cal Poly student Kristin Smart, investigative journalist Chris Lambert eventually dug up evidence that resulted in the arrest of two suspects.
Tom Brown’s Body
Tom Brown’s Body looks into the 2016 disappearance of a high school senior from Canadian, Texas. After Brown’s remains were found two years later, writer Skip Hollandsworth analyzed the botched investigation in this eight-part podcast series from the creators of Texas Monthly’s Boomtown.
Dig
Dig, from the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting, examines Louisville’s failure to accurately report and investigate rape allegations. Not for the faint of heart, season 2 delves into the city’s response to the 2020 killing of Breonna Taylor.
Hands Off My Podcast
Hands Off My Podcast is hosted by Jasmine Castillo, a voice-over artist and true-crime fan who wanted to highlight stories within the #BIPOC and #LGBTQ communities. Castillo also offers ways to help the victims of these tragic stories.
Court Junkie
Interested in the judicial side of true crime, Court Junkie looks at the state of the criminal-law system and centers on cases in which the courts lost the plot and made insane decisions.
Sistas Who Kill: A True Crime Podcast
Best friends MaRah and Taz tell the story of Black women who kill, focusing on how the justice system treats them differently from their white counterparts.
American Scandal
Want to know more about Watergate or President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial? American Scandal explains what happens when presidents lie (and try to get away with it).
The Official Jinx Podcast
Can’t get enough of HBO’s The Jinx? Check out the official companion podcast, which features never-before-aired conversations with Robert Durst from director Andrew Jarecki’s filming partner, executive producer Zac Stuart-Pontier.
Affirmative Murder
Hosted by Alvin Williams and Francel Evans, Affirmative Murder digs into marginalized murder stories without entering morbid territory.
Scamanda
Scamanda tells the story of a woman in San Jose, California, who pretended that she had cancer to scam her family and her community out of an unbelievable amount of money.
Who Killed Daphne?
After investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia was killed by a car bomb in 2017, her case went unsolved. Who Killed Daphne?, hosted by reporter Stephen Grey, gets the killer’s confession.
American Hostage
If you long for the days of radio plays like The War of the Worlds, this series starring Jon Hamm should scratch your itch. American Hostage sees Hamm as a radio reporter who stumbles upon a story lead when a hostage taker demands to be interviewed live on-air.
Welcome to Your Fantasy
If you’re looking for a listen that’s a bit more salacious and a bit less gory, Welcome to Your Fantasy might be the true-crime series of your dreams. Historian Natalia Petrzela hosts this investigative series on the rise of the Chippendales dance empire—and its dark backstory of organized crime, drugs, and murder.
Undisclosed
Hosted by three attorneys, Undisclosed offers an unprecedented glimpse into the U.S. criminal justice system by breaking down wrongful convictions. The first season begins with the case of State of Maryland v. Adnan Syed, previously covered by Serial.
Forgotten: Women of Juarez
From iHeartRadio, Forgotten: Women of Juarez probes the unexplained disappearances of an estimated 1,500 women in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, since the 1990s. Connecting symbols to evidence from recovered bodies and looking deeper into potential suspects, Forgotten aims to uncover the truth about these related femicides.
Son of a Hitman
In this Spotify original, journalist Jason Cavanagh reports on suspected hitman Charles Harrelson—father of Woody Harrelson. With help from the Harrelson brothers and others close to Charles, Cavanagh attempts to demystify the total history of the alleged criminal, including his potential involvement in the Kennedy assassination.
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