True Crime Podcasts - Kirsty Fyfe

Imagine this: It’s a dark, dreary morning and you are staring out the window of the train on the way to your 9am lecture. It’s too early for some music, but you sure don’t want to listen to the guy next to you chewing his gum. What is the solution, I hear you ask? Crime Podcasts.

Every single person has a morbid curiosity as to how the most grisly of crimes happened. As law students, it was the glamour of criminal law that brought you to university in the first place – don’t even kid yourself that it wasn’t.

But where to start, when there are so many different kinds of crime podcasts and hosts out there? Today I’ve written about two of my absolute favourites and why you should listen to them. First up: Crime Junkie

Crime Junkie - https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/

Crime Junkie is a weekly podcast that comes from US hosts Ashley Flowers and Brit Prawat. What is great about this show is the relationship between the two female hosts – who have been best friends for years.

They have a complete passion for bringing the stories of the victims alive as well as reawakening interest in long forgotten cases. Their conversational style makes you think you are sitting next to them as they recount the story. As you scroll through the long list of episodes each one is usually fitted into a category; MURDERED, INFAMOUS, CAPTURED, SERIAL KILLER or MISSING. The last is my absolute favourite since I am obsessed with people who completely vanish…however, I digress.

The majority of their stories are from the US/Canada but they have a few UK based episodes such as the Bible John murders in Glasgow (https://crimejunkiepodcast.com/serial-killer-bible-john/) and others from around the globe. The channel also has a Patreon group that you can support which gives you access to more episodes, as well as early access to merchandise before the general public. Each episode is easily digestible, with a range of between 20 minutes to an hour. Some more in depth cases will be covered over two episodes. There is no gory detail left out. You’ll find the hosts utterly relatable and find yourself uttering their mantra when you walk down a dark street on your own: "Be Weird, Be Rude, Stay Alive".

Maybe conversational style isn’t your thing? You’d rather just hear the story and feel the tingle of eeriness creep down your spine? You are in luck, I have a podcast for that too. If you are looking for something entirely different to Crime Junkie, I highly recommend checking out Casefile.

Casefile - https://casefilepodcast.com/

Unlike Crime Junkie, Casefile has a darker and more sinister tone, but one that is done so successfully you will keep going back for more.

All Casefile episodes are narrated by an unknown Australian voice – the host choosing not to reveal himself. The stories go very in depth and at times you might think that the host has went off on a tangent – he hasn’t and everything always ties back into the main story.

Casefile requires some attention, though. Losing concentration means you can lose the plot. Again, Casefile has a large number of cases for you to digest – 142 at the time of writing. Casefile covers all types of crime, with lots of Australian crimes unknown to many. If I were to recommend my all-time favourite Casefile episode, it would be Case 109 – Belanglo. Case 109 consists of five episodes focusing on the brutal murders of backpackers along the Australian Hume Highway (part 1 can be accessed here - https://casefilepodcast.com/case-109-belanglo-part-1/). It is an engrossing, horrid tale that had me totally absorbed the entire time.

Podcasts are an excellent way for you to engage in your favourite topics – whether it is history, science, gardening, food or crime – there will be a podcast to your taste. There are many other crime podcasts out there so feel free to try them all.